The mountain troll and I exchanged a courteous nod. I followed the narrow alleyway until the lively lights of the public place flooded through a passage in between two buildings. A bunch of people still crowded around the wide steps and a firetruck had parked in the street nearby. There were no signs of an emergency, however, so it must have been clear by then that nothing dangerous had happened.

I hoped Eva hadn’t wandered too far away from the spot where I had left her. I peered into the multitude in search of her. My heart jumped when I detected a movement from the corner of my eye. I turned around sharply, back toward the dark alley, with a lot more shock than necessary. Apparently, the recent incident had put a greater strain on my nerves than I thought.

A silhouette stopped in its tracks as soon as my eyes were on it. I couldn’t tell whether the person was a man or a woman. The only remarkable thing about them was the long scarf around their neck that floated in the wind.

The stranger remained immobile. We mutually assessed each other for a few seconds. The hair on my head stood on end. Wasn’t this passerby much too quiet to be just a random passerby? What if they had anything to do with the incident? The moment the thought crossed my mind, they seemed to finally thaw and they walked away.

I decided not to linger any longer. I couldn’t go around accusing all the passersby I met of sabotaging the concert. It wasn’t practical and it wasn’t my job. If anything, the stranger might have gotten a similar suspicion about me.

I found Eva sitting on the steps in front of the opera house. I didn’t offer any update about the situation, so she said, “I don’t think the firefighters found anything concerning.”

“Yeah, apparently it was just some fog machine,” I confirmed.

She rose and looked at me with a strange gleam in her eyes. She glanced back at the firetruck and at all the people gathered around. “Have you heard the rumor about Midnight Pirate?” she asked. An enigmatic smile stretched her lips.

“What rumor?”

“They say that she made a pact with the devil to become the most famous singer on earth. I wonder if the devil showed up tonight because it was unhappy with her.”

I stared at Eva. What the hell was she going on about?

She laughed at my reaction. “It’s a joke! Are you scared of the devil?”

I nudged her in the ribs with my elbow to let her know her joke wasn’t funny. She laughed a bit more and then we took the bus to get back home.

***

Eva grilled me about my relationship with Jayda all the way back to our place. I remained as evasive as possible, especially since she seemed to be a fan of The Black Claws. My identity as a member of the defunct band was still a secret and I didn’t want her to start connecting the dots.

As we approached our building, Eva pulled me discreetly by the sleeve. “Is it that girl again?”

I looked toward the entrance to see who was that “girl again” she referred to. It was an indication of how used I had grown to Tara’s intrusions that I didn’t even notice her standing in the doorway at first.

“What are you doing here?” I asked. Eva stopped beside me and her eyes jumped awkwardly from the intruder to myself.

Tara seemed deflated by my reaction. I wasn’t sure what she expected to achieve by showing up to my place uninvited. “Sorry, I wanted to show you something…”

At least, she was apologetic about it. Maybe Eva scared her into behaving for once. I hoped Tara wouldn’t bring up our contract, because I wasn’t keen on Eva figuring out I was a freelancer.

I needed to teach her about manners. There’s an implicit policy of secrecy involved in freelancing. “How long have you been waiting here?”

“Only a few minutes. I finished work and I…”

“I thought I told you I didn’t want to see you again.”

Eva took my arm and whispered, “Should I call the police?”

Let’s not go this far. Luckily, Tara caught on, “No! I’ll go… Sorry.”

She walked away. She seemed genuinely disappointed that I refused to listen to her right there and then. Whatever she wanted to tell me, it could wait until the next business day, couldn’t it?

I didn’t realize I was lost in thoughts until Eva put her hand on my shoulder and brought me back to reality. “Everything’s fine?”

I nodded and we went inside. What a fool I had been to think I could have a simple night out with Eva. The worst thing was, I hadn’t enjoyed any of it because Jayda’s concert kept reminding me of my bitterness.

Freelancers lived for their contracts. Even past ones created ripples in their lives well after their deadlines, and I was sick of dealing with the consequences. I liked to think that I could move on from that life. If it wasn’t for my misplaced sentimentality, I would never have accepted to work with Tara.

“Thank you so much for inviting me,” Eva said as we stopped in front of my apartment door.

It was like the whole evening had been nothing but a dream. When you’re always stuck in the past, life tends to just whiz by. Shreds of an old melody resonated in my mind. “Oh, you’re welcome. It’s too bad there was a problem with the fog…and the power failure.”

“I thought it was dramatic.”

I couldn’t have said why I felt good with Eva around. We’d known each other for such a short time. But then, I had known Tara for the same amount of time, and I already knew I didn’t like her. Feelings could set in so quickly.

The weak ceiling light cast moving shadows on Eva’s face. “Are you okay?” she asked, once again.

“Yeah, why?”

“You didn’t look like you were enjoying yourself during the show.”

“Sorry, I was a bit tired.”

I reached for the door handle. I wasn’t prepared to feel Eva’s fingers around mine. “That’s it?”

She was warm despite the cold of the approaching winter. “You want something to drink?”

You know how it is, sometimes you invite someone for drinks and they stay the night, and once they’ve stayed the night, they end up staying in your life a lot longer.

Eva took one step further into my life. It started when we crossed the doorway. She came closer and closer until she held me by the waist. There, she waited, just to make sure. The reason I didn’t pull away was that… it does get lonely, being alone all the time.

My job was to take advantage of desperate people for my own personal gain. If I wanted to hide this part of my life from Eva, and so many other parts along with it, it meant there would be a lot of secrets between us.

It all didn’t matter much in the moment. As Eva leaned in closer and closer, my mind stilled and my body came alive. Her breath and her touch lit up every inch of my skin. Once the fire finally grew quiet, I fell asleep against her with her taste still on my lips.